Recent reviews by Sailor Cat

Holy Tolstoy! I found myself gamboling through dungeon corridors as not just any gobglin, but a cute and funny gobglin! I'm over the Moon! Fun + engaging dice mechanics satisfy my inner TTRPG fan, then embrace animal husbandry by marrying goblins and other non-human ilk with luvverly-jubberly hand-drawn character portraits. Normally, not all that interested in the genre, but the aforementioned make it worthwhile.

EE comes with some inevitable issues, but ultimately, still an improvement on the classic. Not much else worth saying, with the original being what it was.

Mario Party, but fun. Less left up to chance, more left up to playing the game. Workshop mini-games, too.

Holy Tolstoy! I found myself gamboling through dungeon corridors as not just any gobglin, but a cute and funny gobglin! I'm over the Moon! Fun + engaging dice mechanics satisfy my inner TTRPG fan, then embrace animal husbandry by marrying goblins and other non-human ilk with luvverly-jubberly hand-drawn character portraits. Normally, not all that interested in the genre, but the aforementioned make it worthwhile.

Probably the best CRPG to release since Pillars of Eternity II. Up there with the best in the last decade, handily.

While the questionable Owlcatisms will likely never disappear, Owlcat shows incredible growth going from Kingmaker to Wrath of the Righteous. More importantly, they show an intimate familiarity with what makes a traditional CRPG great. I'd rate it higher than crowd favorite BG3 without a second thought. Mythic paths have surprising depth and impact on the story, character decisions are thickly applied and carry weight, companion quests have substance, I could go on. My main qualms are with the Saturday morning cartoon voice direction for some companions, the game being a bit too combat heavy at times, and persistent bugs that never got addressed.

Itchy... scratchy... brains... they're Grrreat Zombie Sim.

Larian really hoodwinked us all by making Divinity Original Sin 3. It's a good, fun game. But Larian's wide hallway theme park game just feels much more like DOS3 with a D&D veneer than a proper BG3 (or CRPG for that matter), made by some wet-behind-the-ears GM who thinks their campaign and house rules are brilliant.

Plus, it's incredibly buggy—and gets worse the more you progress. That this is glossed over by so many players and outlets can only explained by something like the Absolute. Between the bugs and Larian floundering at implementing D&D content, the game just gets more embarrassing the deeper you get into it.

Still, it's fun. Just not nearly as praiseworthy as reception and memes let on...

cute + funny

This balancing act between a fair few good and bad elements is overshadowed by one glaring issue: Kingdom management directly conflicts with and hinders CRPG exploration, and vice versa.

Pros
+ Flat F♥♥♥ Friday featuring Peevish Pettanko Plachta

Cons
- Dungeon Weather Control

All in all, a mightily fantastic Atelier game!